Pilot Brian Shul speaks tonight at pancreatic cancer fundraiser

SR-71 pilot Brian Shul, author of the acclaimed “Sled Driver,” will share his inspiring story of being shot down in Vietnam and left for dead, only to go on to fly the top-secret Blackbird, considered the highest, fastest and most extraordinary aircraft ever built, at a fundraising dinner taking place tonight at Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum.

Shul’s remarks are part of “Wings of Hope,” a dinner that his sister, former Castle Pines Mayor Maureen Shul, is organizing on behalf of Denver affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, a national organization creating hope through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure. The event begins with cocktails and a silent auction at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.pancan.org/wingsofhope

Maureen Shul, who remains a member of the Castle Pines city council, is staging the dinner in honor of her mother and brother, Victor, who both died of pancreatic cancer. Maureen remained at Victor’s side for the four years that he fought the disease; he died in 2009.

Five months after losing her brother, Maureen’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, this in addition to the Alzheimer’s disease she had been diagnosed with eight years earlier. Blanche Shul passed away from pancreatic cancer three months after her diagnosis, never knowing that her son had succumbed to it, also.

Propelled by grief and a desire to honor her brother and mother, Maureen Shul says her goal for “Wings of Hope” is to help raise awareness of and research dollars for pancreatic cancer. “When pancreatic cancer barges into your family with no forewarning and little available information from which to draw upon, you are left with horrendously sobering statistics and little else,” Shul states.

“My family was stunned as to how little there was in the way of early diagnostic testing for pancreatic cancer,” she adds. “Just as shocking, the five-year survival rate has remained unchanged at just six percent for the last 40 years due to detection tools and effective treatment still undeveloped. Despite the sobering statistics, just two percent of the National Cancer Institute’s federal research funding is allocated to pancreatic cancer.

“My desire is that Wings of Hope will raise awareness as well as research funding to mount a viable assault on this disease,” Shul says. “When you suffer through losses this profound you are compelled to do something to honor your loved ones in ways that will hopefully result in more awareness and tools to help the many others whose lives have been or will be impacted by this horrific disease.”

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In 2010, over 43,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and nearly 37,000 died. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure.